WWF War Zone

"WWF Warzone will remain a classic wrestling game"

WWF Warzone is a classic in my mind to this day, not only does it represent an era in which Acclaim could produce good titles it is integral to wrestling titles. It was this one that broke wrestling games from their niche and made them multi million sellers, (in fact, Warzone sold over 2 million games making it the best selling wrestling game to this day). It started up the mad dash for wrestling licenses with THQ paying big bucks to acquire the WWF license two years later and even made WCW & ECW titles hot properties, (WCW/NWO Revenge came later that year and too was a huge success).

Graphics 7.5/10

Granted they might look a little grainy and dated today, but in my mind they were a huge improvement over the embarrassing cartoon-like graphics earlier WWF titles had. Character models are surprisingly detailed for their time with only the ugly face models hindering their effect. The arenas are also nice, despite there only being one to play in. Despite working on an apparently low budget, Acclaim managed to put together an impressive looking wrestling title. Back then these graphics were stellar for a wrestling title and still retain that classic look today.

Sound 7.5/10

I really like the addition of commentary to any wrestling game, so long as it doesn't detract from the gameplay, (see WWF SmackDown: JBI). Vince McMahon & Jim Ross provide the commentary and will chime in during gameplay to provide a nice punctuation to the action. The crowd noises sound a little out of place, (some chants you don't even hear in a WWE/F crowd) while the wrestling voices are a nice addition to the action. The entrance music made it in unscathed, which is good to know. Overall an impressive sound job done by Acclaim, it really adds to the WWF experience to have it all intact.

Control 7/10

Warzone uses a control system similar to fighting games where you must hit button combinations to execute moves. It's not as simple as the control scheme used in THQ's latest wrestling games, but it works out here.
My only complaint is that you constantly have to pause the game to check your move list to see which moves you want to use, which can break the pacing of the game. The combinations aren't usually hard to frustrating to do; the only problem is on higher difficulties where your opponent is schooling you.

Gameplay 8.5/10

If you are a wrestling fan in today's world, then this title is a little bit of nostalgia reminding the player of the Attitude Era, (the last ''great'' era in WWF wrestling). The game is a little short on modes, due to the niche status of wrestling games at the time. Challenge would be better if it had a save feature, playing the mode in one sitting is a marathon considering the match lengths. That's another issue had, the matches are fun but they tend to go on too long, multiplayer takes that repetition away however. Oh yes, and the Create-A-Wrestler mode is superb, it's clear why this is a staple of wrestling games today since it adds so much depth to the game.
However, playing some of these matches is surprisingly addicting and the move combination system adds more depth to it than this title would normally allow.

Final Score: 7.8/10
Rounded Score: 8.0/10

Bottom Line

Though it is out-of-date, Warzone is still a nice trip back to the Attitude Era of the WWF. The engine, which Acclaim used in the terrible ECW games, still works wonderfully here and contains a lot more action than those titles did. Considering that Warzone now sells for a very low price, I would highly recommend it to any WWE/F fan interested, casual fans too may want to check it out.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/14/03